Hiab opens new depot in Netherton

An initial 10 jobs have been created with the more than £1 million investment in opening the new depot at the Washington Centre, off Halesowen Road, Netherton.

The 20,000 sq ft base was opened by managing director of Hiab UK and Ireland, Rogier van der Linde, who said "It's a tremendous privilege to be able to declare the Dudley facility open. Our presence in the West Midlands brings us closer to a significant fleet of HIAB equipment, and we are now well-placed to offer at a local level all the benefits that come with a global company, such as trained Hiab service engineers and rapid access to quality parts.

"Furthermore, we are delighted to announce the provision of two apprenticeship places, in collaboration with Dudley College. It is very satisfying to see our two new apprentices here today to meet our customers as they start their professional journey with Hiab. Like many industry sectors, ours is facing an impending skills shortage, and we hope these apprentices will pave the way for many more at Hiab UK."

Hiab, which has been in this country for more than 40 years, is expanding its UK sales and service network and the Netherton site is its fourth with two more in the pipeline.

Dutch-born Mr van der Linde, who is based at the head office in Ellesmere, and depot manager Chris Griffin cut a ribbon to launch the depot in front of customers.

"We have created a fantastic workplace. I want to thank everyone involved," added Mr van der Linde.

Expansion of the depot is scheduled in the coming years with the number there to rise to more than 30.

Hiab is part of the Finnish Cargotec Corporation and is renowned globally for manufacturing rugged and dependable equipment such as skiploaders, vehicle-mounted cranes and forklifts under brands including HIAB, Moffett, Multilift, Jonsered and Loglift.

The new depot in the Dudley borough will offer its customers a full range of services, from equipment inspection to preventive maintenance and breakdown support. With a suite of comprehensive service contracts covering its equipment ranging from three to eight years, Hiab will now have the flexibility to service equipment either at the new depot or, using its fleet of 20 field service technicians based from Dudley, at a customer’s site or any other convenient location across central England and Wales.

Hiab will also be keeping an inventory of essential spare parts at Dudley, offering its customers high-quality genuine Hiab spare parts to help ensure their equipment is working optimally, efficiently and, most importantly, is safe to operate.

“Our decision to invest in this new facility is part of our ongoing strategy to shape and inspire industry with solutions to the challenges of delivering in urban environments,” added Mr van der Linde, who has been based in the UK for two years.

“Our customers must keep their equipment on the road to stay competitive, and our job is to maximise the uptime of that equipment and to make sure that the customer is safe to go on the road. We are ambitious to grow our business, and our new West Midlands depot will play a very large part in that growth strategy.”

Hiab, whose key markets include builders merchants, waste disposal and utilities companies, employs more than 200 in the UK. It is the world’s leading provider of on-road load handling equipment, intelligent services and digitally connected solutions. It has more than 3,300 employees worldwide.

The new apprentices will be training on site and at the college's Dudley Advance base.

College engineering and advanced manufacturing business manager Iain Cole said that the college hope to build from the initial two apprentices to develop a long term relationship with Hiab.